JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel will listen to the United States but will decide its actions according to its own national interest, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Tuesday.
The statement was attached to a Washington Post article which said Netanyahu had told President Joe Biden’s administration that Israel would strike Iranian military, not nuclear or oil, targets.
The statement came amid expectations that Israel will strike in retaliation for Iran’s missile attack on Israel on Oct 1. That attack followed rapidly spiralling conflict between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon.
Citing two officials familiar with the matter, the Washington Post said Netanyahu had told the Biden administration that he was willing to strike military rather than oil or nuclear facilities in Iran, suggesting a more limited counterstrike aimed at preventing a full-scale war.
The retaliatory action would be calibrated to avoid the perception of “political interference in the U.S. elections,” the Washington Post quoted one official as saying.
“We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interests,” Netanyahu’s office said, in a statement that was also quoted in the Washington Post article.
Biden has said he would not support an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites and oil markets have been on edge over the prospect of an Israeli strike against Iranian oil fields.
Gulf states have lobbied Washington to stop Israel from attacking Iran’s oil sites because they are concerned their own oil facilities could come under fire from Tehran’s proxies if the conflict escalates.
